Inside Inflexor Ventures’ investment playbook; VC inflow in India’s startup ecosystem remains high
The Mumbai-based VC firm began investing in technology-led businesses as early as 2015, well before ‘deeptech’ became a defined category in India.
Hello,
Asking AI chatbots such as ChatGPT for personal advice isn’t a good idea. A new study from Stanford shows just how dangerous seeking chatbots’ help for personal problems could be.
AI tools have a tendency to flatter users and confirm their existing beliefs, a phenomenon also known as AI sycophancy. While this behaviour increases engagement, it harms users in the long run by being too agreeable
The study’s senior author, Dan Jurafsky, is a professor of both linguistics and computer science, TechCrunch reports. According to him, AI sycophancy is “a safety issue, and like other safety issues, it needs regulation and oversight.”
ICYMI: Dragon fruit has become a popular crop for farmers in India. BBC takes a deep dive into figuring this new phenomenon.
Lastly, a sticky affair.
In a major candy crime, thieves have reportedly stolen a large shipment of KitKat bars that were meant for distributors.
The truck carrying over 400,000 units of a “new chocolate range”, about 12 tons of chocolate, was stolen while driving through Europe on 26 March, AFP reported. The robbery occurred just days before Easter.
In today’s newsletter, we will talk about
- Inside Inflexor Ventures’ investment playbook
- VC inflow in India’s startup ecosystem remains high
Here’s your trivia for today: Gray, blue, bowhead and finback are varieties of what?
Venture capital
Inside Inflexor Ventures’ investment playbook
While the deeptech ecosystem has gathered momentum in recent times, Inflexor Ventures realised the potential of the sector more than a decade ago.
The Mumbai-based VC firm began investing in technology-led businesses as early as 2015, well before ‘deeptech’ became a defined category in India. Its bets in the segment include engineering-led appliance brand Atomberg, Bellatrix Aerospace, and NoPo Nanotechnologies. Murali Krishna Gunturu, Partner at Inflexor Ventures reveals how the firm picks its startup bets.
Key takeaways:
- When it comes to investing in deeptech firms, Gunturu says the VC firm looks for a working product, early customer or institutional validation, and independent confirmation that the technology works.
- Inflexor is currently raising its third fund of around Rs 1,200 crore, which will primarily invest at the pre-Series A and Series A stages in companies with a working product and commercial traction.
- Medical devices and space technology are two areas that excite the VC firm the most.
Funding
VC inflow in India’s startup ecosystem remains high
The last week of March turned out to be positive for the Indian startup ecosystem as venture capital (VC) funding remained high. The total funding for the week came in at $328 million across 22 deals. In contrast, the comparable previous week saw funding of $358 million from 27 deals.
Capital inflow:
- During this week, startup funding was across stages and it was spread across sectors like SaaS, electric vehicles, consumertech, healthtech and deeptech.
- The other noticeable trend has been the growing number of AI led investments into startups Rocketlane and Deccan AI.
- Saas startup Rocketlane raised $60 million led by Insight Partners while food delivery startup Swish raised $38 million from Hara Global, Bain Capital Ventures, Accel, Alteria Capital and Stride Ventures.
News & updates
- Oil prices: The Brent crude oil price is expected to see its biggest monthly gain so far in March after the Iran war caused mayhem in the markets. Brent crude, the international benchmark, has climbed by 51% since the start of March, Guardian reports.
- Acquisition: US pharmaceutical giant Eli Lilly has reached a $2.75 billion deal to bring drugs developed using artificial intelligence by Hong Kong-based Insilico Medicine to the global market.
What you should watch out for
- Income tax filing is expected to see significant changes starting April 1 as Income-tax Rules, 2026, come into force. The redesigned ITR forms that replace the Form 16 with a new Form 130 are among the key changes this year.
- Technology firm Meta is preparing to launch two new Ray-Ban smart glasses models designed for prescription wearers, Bloomberg reported.
Gray, blue, bowhead and finback are varieties of what?
Answer: Whales
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